Earliest Seattle Departure Time

[camarowesley]

After an Alaskan cruise what is the earliest flight time out of Seattle you would reccommend. I know lines can be long, the ship can be delayed, etc, etc. Thinking about at 10:20, is that too early? 

Edited September 4, 2023 by camarowesley

[ColeThornton]

I think it is.    Why end a relaxing cruise by having to rush and stress an early flight?  My rule of thumb is no flights before noon.

[camarowesley]

4 minutes ago, ColeThornton said:

I think it is.    Why end a relaxing cruise by having to rush and stress an early flight?  My rule of thumb is no flights before noon.

With layovers our travel time alone will be11 hours with a 2 hour drive from the airport to home. So, yeah we need to get off the ship ASAP. 

[jiggs]

get ready to put on your flame suit...with that out of the way, I'm an early flight person too (I've made a 9:20 from MCO after disembarking at Port Canaveral 🙂 ).  I've been in the first cab away from the port several times.  I do not find it stressful, I love being on my way while others are still asleep in their cabins.

 

Do you have status, fttf, or a suite guest that will allow you priority self assist disembark? Do you have TSA pre-check? 10:20 is early but doable.

 

I did this trip last summer as a plat...I would have to look for sure, but I think the meet up for Plat self assist was no later than 7 am, probably earlier.  Off the ship and in a cab in like 15 minutes. Lets just say 7:30ish.

 

30 minutes to the airport, mobile check in on the way, drop bags with the airline and head to security.  Here pre-check saves you some time, but is not really a deal breaker, just nice.  Say all of that takes you 1:15, now you are airside around 8:45ish for what is likely a 9:50 boarding time.

 

That was a lot of words, here are more - if you don't plan to self assist, book a later bird - even early tags will slow you down a lot waiting to get off the ship, then find your stuff, then likely more of a backup at customs, then a crowded parking lot.

  

[Ferry_Watcher]

Well, it appears that in your view like this 10:20 am flight is your only option.

Not sure when your cruise is (2024?  Which month?)

You would have to be at the airline gate by 9:45 am at the latest.

Carnival cruise days in Seattle are Tuesdays and Thursdays, so at least you are avoiding the peak travel days of the week.

Of course you would have to carry off your own bags, and be one of the first passengers in line to even have a chance of making a 10:20 AM flight.

However, SeaTac is crazy busy during the summer, and Carnival doesn't participate with the Port Valet program, so you will have to check you luggage, unless you can truly travel with just a carry-on bag. 

Unless your cruise is either very early in the season (May), or very late (Sept), you will most likely run into very long TSA lines June-early Sept..  You could save some time having TSA pre-check, or purchase Clear, but getting thru those lines will take time.

Remember, airlines are always tweaking their departure times - especially if you book months ahead - so that 10:20 departure time may change between when you book, and when you cruise.

I personally wouldn't recommend such an early flight, but the decision is up to you.

 

[psuboater]

Adding to this- I'm based in the Seattle area but went to Alaska on the Quantum last April. We had a custom clearance delay after we docked and the first people off the weren't allowed off until close to 9. We had no rush, but people with early flights who expected to get off at 7:15am were freaking out. 
 

Is a 10:20am doable and are others going to say they made it no problem? Sure. But SEA is a gamble in the heavy cruise season. Some days it's less than a 10 minute time through security, other times it makes the news when security times are over 90 minutes. 
 

Checking in baggage can also be a long wait. I have Sky Priority with Delta and it still took me 30+ minutes for bag drop. 
 

I avoid flying out of here from June-September, take that as you will 🙂 

[camarowesley]

2 hours ago, jiggs said:

get ready to put on your flame suit...with that out of the way, I'm an early flight person too (I've made a 9:20 from MCO after disembarking at Port Canaveral 🙂 ).  I've been in the first cab away from the port several times.  I do not find it stressful, I love being on my way while others are still asleep in their cabins.

 

Do you have status, fttf, or a suite guest that will allow you priority self assist disembark? Do you have TSA pre-check? 10:20 is early but doable.

 

I did this trip last summer as a plat...I would have to look for sure, but I think the meet up for Plat self assist was no later than 7 am, probably earlier.  Off the ship and in a cab in like 15 minutes. Lets just say 7:30ish.

 

30 minutes to the airport, mobile check in on the way, drop bags with the airline and head to security.  Here pre-check saves you some time, but is not really a deal breaker, just nice.  Say all of that takes you 1:15, now you are airside around 8:45ish for what is likely a 9:50 boarding time.

 

That was a lot of words, here are more - if you don't plan to self assist, book a later bird - even early tags will slow you down a lot waiting to get off the ship, then find your stuff, then likely more of a backup at customs, then a crowded parking lot.

  

Thank you, we are Platinum & have TSA recheck. We're going to try, worst case, we catch a later flight or spend the night in Seattle. 

[camarowesley]

14 minutes ago, psuboater said:

Adding to this- I'm based in the Seattle area but went to Alaska on the Quantum last April. We had a custom clearance delay after we docked and the first people off the weren't allowed off until close to 9. We had no rush, but people with early flights who expected to get off at 7:15am were freaking out. 
 

Is a 10:20am doable and are others going to say they made it no problem? Sure. But SEA is a gamble in the heavy cruise season. Some days it's less than a 10 minute time through security, other times it makes the news when security times are over 90 minutes. 
 

Checking in baggage can also be a long wait. I have Sky Priority with Delta and it still took me 30+ minutes for bag drop. 
 

I avoid flying out of here from June-September, take that as you will 🙂 

Thank you, it's a May cruise. We are Platinum and have TSA recheck. We're gonna try it.

[loeytalldog]

Just got off the Quantam and waiting at the gate now for an 11:30 am flight. We walked off the ship at 650 with our bags, were in a taxi and at airport by 730. We had clear, tsa precheck but the long were long BUT we were at the gate within an hour, 3 hours before flight. Any questions please feel free to ask, I know when I was planning I had lots of questions!

[Meander Ingwa]

@loeytalldog you were fortunate.  A semi-truck flipped on southbound I5 at the Tukwila curve the area just before the exit to the airport.  It landed sideways across all the lanes. Things were a mess for quite some time through the afternoon

  The driver was OK and thankfully did not spill the load.  One historic flip was on the viaduct ( waterfront highway back then) where the cargo spill was salmon.  The southbound was completely shut and the resulting gridlock was historic .  A year  later a truck spilled a load of frozen crab legs.  I guess when we spill seafood we go large.  I think a city day of mourning would have been called if it had been Dungeness Crabs

[flyboy3]

We will be arriving in Seattle on the Westerdam Sunday May 12 on a transpacific cruise at 7 am. Considering customs and transportation to the airport on Sunday morning, is a 10:30:am departure doable?

[psuboater]

Please see #5 and #6 in this thread to the answer. 

[eileeshb]

On 9/4/2023 at 2:19 PM, camarowesley said:

With layovers our travel time alone will be11 hours with a 2 hour drive from the airport to home. So, yeah we need to get off the ship ASAP. 

I can top that .. 16 hours travel so I have no intention of taking a chance on missing the first leg of my journey home with the result that I’m staying the night in Seattle when the cruise ends so I can get home without being completely stressed out.